The present invention concerns methods of preparing a subassembly for splicing an integrated optical device to at least one optical fiber cable, this cable being more particularly, although not exclusively, in the form of a ribbon cable comprising a plurality of single-mode fibers disposed parallel to each other with their axes coplanar. The present invention also concerns a method of splicing this subassembly to one or more optical fiber cables and connection subassemblies for use in this method.
Multifiber cables will be used for future multiservice optical networks. Connecting one or more such cables to an integrated optical device incorporating waveguides poses problems in terms of cost, optical quality and ease of use.
Because the optical energy is highly confined in an optical fiber, connecting an optical fiber to a waveguide requires dimensional tolerances in the order of one micrometer. The simultaneous connection of several fiber/waveguide combinations naturally increases the difficulty, all the more so in that economic objectives require a low-cost connection device suitable for use by relatively unskilled personnel under difficult outdoor working conditions, and in particular in trenches, in other words on site.
Currently an operator places the ends of the fibers of the cable into V-shaped grooves etched chemically into one face of a silicon primary plate; a complementary plate immobilizes the fibers. Correct alignment of the fibers and the guides requires the use of complex and costly means. The ends of the fibers must be optically polished, by means of a long and delicate operation. The assembly system is difficult and costly.